Amazon Doubles Q1 Earnings Predictions, Stock Jumps to All-Time High

One share of the e-commerce giant will cost you $1,600 now

| April 26, 2018 @ 1:23 PM Last Updated: April 26, 2018 @ 2:00 PM

Amazon blitzed past Wall Street’s high hopes when it reported its first quarter financials on Thursday, with the e-commerce giant more than doubling earnings projections.

After markets closed on Thursday, Amazon reported revenue of $51.04 billion and earnings of $3.27 cents a share for the three months ended on March 31. Analysts had projected $49.78 billion in revenue and earnings of $1.26 cents a share on average.

Amazon had a 43 percent year-over-year increase in sales, and its earnings more than doubled from the $724 million it reported during the first quarter of 2017. The tech juggernaut posted its 12th straight quarterly profit, pulling in $1.6 billion in net income.

Also Read: Jordan Peele Docuseries on Lorena Bobbitt Headed to Amazon

Chief Executive Jeff Bezos pointed to the company’s cloud business, Amazon Web Services, in his statement accompanying earnings. AWS hauled in $5.4 billion in sales during the quarter, a 49 percent-year-over-year increase.

“AWS had the unusual advantage of a seven-year head start before facing like-minded competition, and the team has never slowed down,” said Bezos. “As a result, the AWS services are by far the most evolved and most functionality-rich. AWS lets developers do more and be nimbler, and it continues to get even better every day. That’s why you’re seeing this remarkable acceleration in AWS growth, now for two quarters in a row. A huge thank you to all our AWS customers, and you can be sure we’ll keep working hard for you.”

Investors quickly gave Amazon a vote of confidence, with its shares running 7 percent to hit a new all-time high above $1,630 a share in after-hours trading. Amazon had already been on a breakneck pace this year, with its shares climbing nearly 30 percent to $1,511 a share since the start of 2018.

Also Read: Amazon, Dennis Kelly to Adapt the Culture Space Opera 'Consider Phlebas' for TV

The company will hold a call at 5:30 p.m. ET to discuss its earnings.

6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)

  • bezos powell
  • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Getty
  • Chris Hughes Getty
  • pierre omidyar Getty
  • peter thiel Getty
  • Mark Zuckerberg Getty
1 of 6

Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse

Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.

View In Gallery

Related Content